THE

LIBERTARIAN

ENTERPRISE

Gimping Along With The GOP

by Laissez Firearm

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

My final, utter disillusionment with mainstream politics arrived
shortly after the '94 elections. Finished with puffing out their
chests and promising the world, the fresh Republican majority instead
hockered-up a big load and spat it down the throat of every gun owner
in the country. Did they repeal the large-capacity magazine ban, the
"Assault Weapon" legislation, the Brady law, or anything else? Nope.
Did they even give it the old college try? Nope. Did they pass new
bad stuff? Aye-yep, even resurrecting the "Gun-Free School Zone Act"
that had been struck down by the Supreme Court's Lopez decision
because of its ludicrously tortuous linkage of "child safety" to the
Constitution's Interstate Commerce clause.
After years of being one of the loudest local gun-nut pests, I
suddenly couldn't have cared less. I stopped taking Raleigh's
monopoly socialist rag, and still refuse to watch the Approved
Nightly News. Aside from feeding this site and cutting the occasional
check for a good cause, I'm basically in hunker-down mode.
In order to keep my ear to the ground, I joined TAGNet (Triangle Area
Gunowner Network). It's a good RKBA activist resource with a
respectable signal-to-noise ratio, a Distant Early Warning system
that usually manages to provide at least a few weeks worth of notice
before the next Stupid Thing comes pouring out of the percolating
swamps of Washington or Raleigh.
Luckily, most of the TAGNetters are relatively politically astute,
and realize that the bulk of politicians are lying sacks of poop.
While they still believe in the democratic process, they're mature
enough to know that if left unattended for a few minutes even their
bestest buddy in the state legislature might stab them in the heart
in exchange for another road in his district or a big whompin'
campaign contribution. All they can look forward to is that maybe the
current line will be held, and if anything new HAS to be passed
(political expediency, y'unnerstand), well, hopefully it will be
aimed at some other bunch of poor sonsabitches.
So they vote for Republicans, lobby the hell out of 'em, and pray for
a few more good years.
While I can certainly comprehend that strategy, it smells plenty bad.
As far as our gun rights go, we're not on a slippery slope -- we're
already over the cliff. So if the bad shit MUST go down, then the
sooner it comes, the better off we'll probably all be. To me, it'd
make more sense to vote for mad hatter Democrats in order to speed
the confrontation. Carol Moseley-Braun for Magnaximum Obstreperous
Potentate!
"EEEK! EEEK!" the Republican apologists shriek, "just wait 'til we
control the White House, both Houses of Congress, and get a few more
seats on the Supreme Court!" Geez, anything else?
Let's go through those goals in order:

The Presidency

Coke fiend rich-boy asswipe George W. Bush is already talking openly
about "reasonable" gun-control measures. And he could very well pick
treacly witch Liddy Dole as his running mate, who is all aflutter
about going way further. If anything, he may get to sign legislation
even more damaging than Clinton could ever hope for.

Congress

I get regular voting tally box scores from Neal Knox and GOA, and
know for a fact that most Republicans are not pro-gun in any
meaningful sense. Whenever the media starts chumming the waters with
bloody pictures, they're busy compromising up a storm. But the RNC is
understandably reluctant to dump the Second Amendment outright, as
the issue provides a reliable "Well, compared to the Democrats..."
talking point for bamboozling the boobs out in TV land.
THE most important thing to these buzzards is their ability to spend
taxes. They are sick and tired of getting beaten up over the gun
thing, and would gladly sail it over the wall (as their counterparts
in England recently did) in exchange for a better shot at more loot.

The Supreme Court

The current buzz is that Rehnquist will retire after Clinton leaves
office. If George W. gets the post, he'll nominate "moderate" clones
of O'Connor and Souter. And that'll blow our chances for another
decade.
Sad to say it, but the next few years could be the best time for a
dustup. We've always had the superior philosophical, historical, and
legal arguments (hey, leftish prune Larry Tribe just weighed-in on
our side), and economist John Lott has provided sufficient
statistical ammunition to effectively muzzle the wonk cadres of our
opposition. Waco is heating up again, and folks who slept through the
last go-around might wake up and get a clue. Y2K hysteria has
convinced plenty of otherwise complacent types to stock up on guns,
food, and other supplies. And a lot of people are just plain cheesed
about the thick ropes of piss the feds rain down on us daily.
If Gore or Bradley win the election and coattail-in even a slim
Democratic majority, they will immediately slam through outright
confiscation of handguns and nasty rifles and military-look shotguns,
and require full registration on whatever remains. And then things
might get real lively as ornery Americans react in wonderfully
diverse ways.
Or we can continue on with Elephant incrementalism, and hope that
when the puck finally hits the ice twelve or thirty years from now
that our kids will even remember what a real gun looks like.

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to return to The Libertarian Enterprise, Number 55, September 15, 1999.